Travel 365: Best of February 2014

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Vatnajökull, Iceland, Rafter

A rafter drifts under Vatnajökull, Iceland's largest glacier. Iceland sits athwart the volatile Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates pull apart, creating an extensive and active volcano zone.

Rice Harvest Festival, Kathmandu

Photograph by Navesh Chitrakar, Reuters

A Newari woman, with lips and face painted to depict a deity, waits to take part in a parade during Yomari Punhi, a festival celebrating the end of the rice harvest, in Kathmandu. The Newar, probably descendants of the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, speak a language separate from their Nepalese neighbors. They emerged by A.D. 900 as the valley's dominant ethnic group and foremost artisans.

Keyhole Rock in Big Sur, California

"When out shooting photos I always seek out unique moments that take patience, persistence, and frankly a bit of luck to capture," says Your Shot community member Paul Weeks, who took this photo on Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur, California. "The greatest feeling is when I'm hunting for one of these rare moments and I end up stumbling into something pleasantly unexpected. On this night, I stayed at Pfeiffer Beach long after the sun set with hopes of capturing the Milky Way. Venus was shining brightly, and for a brief moment, she passed right through the opening in Keyhole Rock. These are the moments I love."

Champs-Élysées, Paris

Photograph by Heiko Meyer, laif/Redux

The Arc de Triomphe offers an aerial view of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, center, one of the most famous shopping streets in the world. The Champs-Élysées (Elysium Fields) and its neighboring boulevards are the center of the haute couture fashion world.

Herder in the Altay Mountains, Mongolia

A shepherd travels with his herd of sheep through a snowy plateau in the Altay Mountains of Mongolia. The mountain chain—whose name means "Golden Mountains"—extends some 1,200 miles through China, Mongolia, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Caffè Florian, Venice

Photograph by Christina Anzenberger, Redux

Venice's famous Caffè Florian, perched on Piazza San Marco, the city's main square, has provided a cozy space for couples for nearly 300 years. The interior of Venice's oldest and most opulent café has barely changed since it opened for business in 1720. Since then it has served coffee, hot chocolate, and more to the likes of Casanova, Charles Dickens, and Marcel Proust.

Messe Basel, Switzerland

Photograph by Christian Kober, JAI/Corbis

Messe Basel, a major exhibition venue in the crossroads Swiss city, is the setting for such celebrated annual events as the Baselworld watch and jewelry show and Art Basel, a modern and contemporary art show with offshoots in Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Recent renovations to its exhibition halls included this light-flooded extension on the Messeplatz.

Kamnik Alps, Slovenia

A hiker makes his way across a steep ridge in the Kamnik Alps of Slovenia, above a thick layer of clouds. The mountain range stretches across the country and passes into Austria.

Chin Village, Myanmar

Photograph by Gemunu Amarasinghe, AP

Dressed in traditional garb, a Chin man leaves the home of a neighbor in Kyar Do village in Myanmar's Chin State. Across Myanmar, where ethnic minorities make up about a third of the 60 million people and inhabit half the country, barely a village remains cocooned in the past.